mlktwins Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 I have a bunch of book lists I'm going through, but I'm posting on here for suggestions for our next fun read aloud. This is separate from our science and history readings, which we sometimes do together, but they do mostly on their own. My boys are 12 and over the past few years, our favorite fun read alouds in order are: 1. Harry Potter series 2. Tie between the Itch series and Hunger Games series (we just did this one as I was worried about some of the content - they did fine) 3. Mysterious Benedict Society series 4. Narnia These are books where they were begging me to read more each day. They also read for fun at night. My one son flies through books so that is making this a bit harder on me. We listened to The Hobbit on audio-book this summer and we are getting ready to start Lord of the Rings on audio-book. Any suggestions are welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 (edited) The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are at the top of the all-time favorite list here! :) The Percy Jackson and the Olympians books (Riordan) and the Artemis Fowle series (Colfer) were fun ones that our 2 DSs enjoyed. For something complete different, we did Kon Tiki (Heyersdahl) as a read-aloud about that age. Non-fiction first-hand account of the recreating of an ancient sailing -- in the 1940s, six men made a log raft and sailed it from South America to the South Pacific islands. Another non-fiction that may be of interest is The Colditz Story (Reid) -- or possibly The Great Escape (Brickhill) or The Forgotten 500 (Freeman). Life With Jeeves (Wodehouse), and other short stories by P.G. Wodehouse were a big humorous hit with DSs. Also much enjoyed at about that age: All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) and sequels. For solo reading, one DS here loved mysteries, and at about that age started enjoying the Sherlock Holmes short mysteries (Doyle) -- but that could also be a great read-aloud, reading 1-2 short stories per session. :) Edited September 29, 2017 by Lori D. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 Let's see....how about The Graveyard Book Redwall Miss Peregrine Running Out Of Time (M.P. Haddix) The Westing Game 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 29, 2017 Share Posted September 29, 2017 (edited) That's a great list already! I'm going to focus on SF/F because that sounds like their main interest. (Coincidentally, it's also mine!) The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Ambassador and Nomad (you have to read both books) Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact The Conch Bearer (the first book starts off slow) Labyrinth Lost (some romantic feelings and I think one kiss) The Savage Fortress Stranger (there's some dating and romance, but it never goes further than off-screen kissing and is not the point of the book) The Jumbies Greenglass House Shadowshaper Mars Evacuees Mortal Engines House of the Scorpion The Midnight War of Matteo Martinez (okay, this one REALLY is a little young, but I liked it so much I'm gonna put it on all the lists for a while!) Face Like Glass Nine Pound Hammer Hammer of Witches On a Clear Day The Earthsea Cycle Annals of the Western Sea (starts with Gifts, I think) Zeroes Killer of Enemies (this one is on my TBR pile) Vodnik (one disturbing scene of bigotry) On a Clear Day You might also consider some more realistic fiction: The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora Kinda Like Brothers How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy Bud, Not Buddy King of Mulberry Street Heart of a Samurai If I Ever Get Out Of Here The Great Greene Heist (not so great literature, but a fun, quick read) The Birchbark House Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (a little young, but not so much they won't enjoy it, I don't think) Dragonwings American Ace Hello Universe Mission Mumbai (another one that's a little young, but not that much) The Way Home Looks Now On Two Feet and Wings So that's quite a mix I typed up, about half strictly middle grade and the other half clearly YA. Edited September 29, 2017 by Tanaqui 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted September 30, 2017 Author Share Posted September 30, 2017 The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are at the top of the all-time favorite list here! :) The Percy Jackson and the Olympians books (Riordan) and the Artemis Fowle series (Colfer) were fun ones that our 2 DSs enjoyed. For something complete different, we did Kon Tiki (Heyersdahl) as a read-aloud about that age. Non-fiction first-hand account of the recreating of an ancient sailing -- in the 1940s, six men made a log raft and sailed it from South America to the South Pacific islands. Another non-fiction that may be of interest is The Colditz Story (Reid) -- or possibly The Great Escape (Brickhill) or The Forgotten 500 (Freeman). Life With Jeeves (Wodehouse), and other short stories by P.G. Wodehouse were a big humorous hit with DSs. Also much enjoyed at about that age: All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot) and sequels. For solo reading, one DS here loved mysteries, and at about that age started enjoying the Sherlock Holmes short mysteries (Doyle) -- but that could also be a great read-aloud, reading 1-2 short stories per session. :) They both loved The Hobbit and my hold on LOTR is ready for pick-up :-). I'm not sure why, but neither was interested in Percy Jackson. I brought the first book home several times and it was a no go. Both read Artemis Fowle on their own -- really enjoyed that. I will definitely be looking at your other recommendations. Thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted September 30, 2017 Author Share Posted September 30, 2017 Let's see....how about The Graveyard Book Redwall Miss Peregrine Running Out Of Time (M.P. Haddix) The Westing Game I just ordered The Westing Game from the library to start with. I hadn't heard about this one -- thanks so much! I forgot about Redwall! I will look up the others this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted September 30, 2017 Author Share Posted September 30, 2017 That's a great list already! I'm going to focus on SF/F because that sounds like their main interest. (Coincidentally, it's also mine!) The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Ambassador and Nomad (you have to read both books) Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact The Conch Bearer (the first book starts off slow) Labyrinth Lost (some romantic feelings and I think one kiss) The Savage Fortress Stranger (there's some dating and romance, but it never goes further than off-screen kissing and is not the point of the book) The Jumbies Greenglass House Shadowshaper Mars Evacuees Mortal Engines House of the Scorpion The Midnight War of Matteo Martinez (okay, this one REALLY is a little young, but I liked it so much I'm gonna put it on all the lists for a while!) Face Like Glass Nine Pound Hammer Hammer of Witches On a Clear Day The Earthsea Cycle Annals of the Western Sea (starts with Gifts, I think) Zeroes Killer of Enemies (this one is on my TBR pile) Vodnik (one disturbing scene of bigotry) On a Clear Day You might also consider some more realistic fiction: The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora Kinda Like Brothers How Lamar's Bad Prank Won a Bubba-Sized Trophy Bud, Not Buddy King of Mulberry Street Heart of a Samurai If I Ever Get Out Of Here The Great Greene Heist (not so great literature, but a fun, quick read) The Birchbark House Misadventures of the Family Fletcher (a little young, but not so much they won't enjoy it, I don't think) Dragonwings American Ace Hello Universe Mission Mumbai (another one that's a little young, but not that much) The Way Home Looks Now On Two Feet and Wings So that's quite a mix I typed up, about half strictly middle grade and the other half clearly YA. I'd better be able to find some from here :-)! Great list! One of my boys read Greenglass House on his own and enjoyed it! I know we haven't read any of the others. This will keep me busy looking too :-)! Thanks for taking the time to type out that list! We read a lot together and some others that we really enjoyed were Things Not Seen, Out of My Mind, Wonder, Wrinkle in Time (one son finished the rest on his own), The Secret Keepers (same guy that wrote Mysterious Benedict Society), and The Unbreakable Code and sequel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 One of my boys read Greenglass House on his own and enjoyed it! Ah, then he'll be pleased to learn that the author has a whole set of books loosely set in the same universe! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlktwins Posted September 30, 2017 Author Share Posted September 30, 2017 Ah, then he'll be pleased to learn that the author has a whole set of books loosely set in the same universe! And...I just checked and The Ghost of Greenglass House will be out soon. I just put a hold at the library for when it comes in next week :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted September 30, 2017 Share Posted September 30, 2017 LOTR!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 Favorites here, that haven't already been mentioned: Un Lun Dun Momo (by Michael Ende) The City of Ember (the sequels are good too, but we didn't read them aloud) Watership Down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 My kids are loving Mossflower, which is part of the Redwall series, begging me to read another one. I, on the other hand, am reluctant because there are so many voices and different accents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meriwether Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 I have a kiddo who loved Narnia, HP, The Hobbit, LOTR. Some other hits: Ender's Game The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Companion books to LOTR books/films--making of, maps, etc. Rocket Boys (FYI: this is a coming of age book, and there is one backseat scene) The Sea of Trolls Gregor the Overlander Eragon series You might also check out The Wizard of Earthsea and Graceling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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